[Biodiesel News] Michigan Sugar taking hard look at biodiesel use for closed plant

Michigan Sugar taking hard look at biodiesel use for closed plant

The Saginaw News - Saginaw,MI,USA

The state Department of Agriculture is reviewing plans to award a $65,000 grant to Michigan Sugar to study biodiesel production -- and if all goes as planned ...

 

Soybeans soon could replace sugar beets at the closed Michigan Sugar Co. plant in Carrollton Township.

 

The state Department of Agriculture is reviewing plans to award a $65,000 grant to Michigan Sugar to study biodiesel production -- and if all goes as planned, crews will produce the fuel for the tractors and trucks farmers use to harvest the beets bound for Michigan Sugar's Bay City factory.

 

State officials said they should make the recommendation to approve the grant within the next few weeks.

 

"We would use the grant money to hire engineers with experience in biodiesel facilities to see if it was feasible to build and operate a biodiesel plant at the Carrollton facility," said Ray F. VanDriessche, director of community and government relations for the sugar company.

 

The outcome of the study would determine the number of employees and how many bushels of soybeans it would take to operate such a facility, as well as how much fuel crews could produce there, he said.

 

Sugar officials suspended beet processing in Carrollton in late February 2005 but still use the plant as a storage and distribution center.

 

So far, the state has one biodiesel factory -- Ag Solutions Inc., which opened Aug. 18 in Gladstone.

 

Michigan soon may have two more -- Milan Biodiesel Co. of Milan expects to complete a production plant there this month, and Michigan Biodiesel in Bangor is preparing to open a plant there in October.

 

Officials with Liberty Renewable Fuels are toying with the idea of starting an ethanol plant and biodiesel operation in Gratiot County's North Star Township near Alma.

 

Ethanol comes from corn. Biodiesel comes from soybeans.

 

The proximity of Michigan Ethanol in Caro, which opened in November 2002, had a lot to do with the Michigan Sugar decision to focus less on ethanol and more on biodiesel, VanDriessche said.

 

Nationwide, there are 97 ethanol plants in operation, with another 35 under construction and a number of others in the planning stages. For biodiesel, there are 87 plants in operation nationwide, with 64 under construction and 13 existing sites undergoing expansion, said a spokeswoman with the National Biodiesel Board in Jefferson City, Mo.

 

"We've already completed a feasibility study for ethanol," VanDriessche said. "We completed that before we suspended operations at the (Carrollton Township) plant, when we were looking at options.

 

"We were studying long-range plans to keep our people working, but we weren't ready to make that move toward ethanol."

 

Michigan Sugar laid off or transferred 65 people at the Carrollton plant, VanDriessche said.

 

"There was a hope to restart sugar-processing operations there again," he said. "Now, as each year goes by, it looks less likely that we're going to do that. The final decision isn't made yet, but it's getting more unlikely all the time.

 

"There are soybean farmers all around us. There's an elevator nearby, the rail line is already in place, we're located just off the river.

 

"It has a lot of potential."

 

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Posted by Vince to Biodiesel News at 9/18/2006 11:48:00 AM